ANEM: Journalists in Bečej were denied entry to the pensioners' forum attended by Minister Handanović.
The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) strongly condemns the ban on journalists from the portals Webinfo and Bečejski mozaik from attending the forum of the Republic Fund for Pension and Disability Insurance (Fund PIO) in Bečej, which was also attended by the Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović Handanović. Journalists were denied entry to the forum despite an official invitation, a previously submitted accreditation application, and a confirmation of attendance which the Webinfo portal received electronically from Fund PIO. The journalists were first informed of the entry ban by a member of the Bečej Municipal Council responsible for information, and then representatives of the ministry confirmed that the event was not open to the media.
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ANEM reminds that the notification about the closure of the public forum, which, according to the representatives of the Fund, “was attended by 150 pensioners,” contradicts the previously sent invitation explicitly stating that the forum was open to accredited journalists. Since the footage of Minister Đedović Handanović entering the hall was broadcast on TV Bečej, it can be concluded that attendance at the event was desirable and permitted only for certain pro-regime media.
The topic of the contentious forum was support for the oldest citizens, which the Minister of Mining and Energy in a technical mandate linked to Aleksandar Vučić's politics and the period following the elections on October 25.
ANEM warns that Article 50 of the Law on the Prevention of Corruption prohibits public officials from using public gatherings and meetings they attend in an official capacity to promote political parties, electoral lists, and candidates. Therefore, we demand that the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund publicly explain who made the decision to prohibit certain journalists from entering the forum and why, as well as that the Anti-Corruption Agency investigates whether this gathering was used for political promotion and whether there was a violation of the Law on the Prevention of Corruption. State institutions must not be used for electoral campaigns, nor should they deny the public's right to be informed and journalists' right to report on their work.
Additionally, ANEM joins its colleagues who, during a meeting with the director of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, Relja Ognjanović, inquired whether this was a campaign for public officials. It is also necessary to respond to questions regarding the criteria for selecting pensioners who attended the forum and the funding of the event organized by the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, which, according to Director Ognjanović, amounted to 77 from February to the present.
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
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